Alien Encounters
by Evil Cosmic Triplets
Summary: When Danny and Chin disappear into thin air, twice, and return the second time with decidedly larger paunches, Max suspects that the two have been experimented on...by aliens. Danny and Chin aren't so certain about that, but with the evidence mounting up, and memories returning, they just might have to concede the point. (some humor/romance/angst are present in this fic as well)
1. Close Encounters of the Weird Kind

**Disclaimer: **Other than the kindly aliens, I do not own the characters of this work of fiction, and no profit, monetary or otherwise, is being made through the writing or posting of this.

**A/N: **This is an AU which features alien abduction, romantic slash (cheesiness), sketchy science (I did consult an actual scientist), limited/third-person omniscient point-of-view (experimenting), jumps in time - I chose not to detail the entire pregnancy. I know that this is imperfect, and am trying not to obsess over errors.

**Warning:** _off-off-off-off_ screen dubcon using some kind of alien drug that isn't really mentioned, this is only alluded to in the story, not detailed.

* * *

**Chapter 1: Close Encounters of the Weird Kind**

Danny tried not to look the thing, the alien, in the eye. Tried not to obsess about the prospect of something popping out of its chest and eating his face off, or about the fact that it had been so easy for the alien to take him and Chin in the first place, why it had left Steve and Kono behind, or why he was plagued by a vague sense of déjà vu, like he'd met these creatures before, under slightly better, less terrifying circumstances.

Danny flinched when the creature - somewhat human looking - touched his shoulder. He licked his lips, and forced a smile.

Swallowing a lump of fear, Danny kicked his smile up a notch. "Is this the part where you probe me? 'Cause I gotta tell you, I'm not that kinda guy. Flowers, dinner, a good movie, maybe some wine and chocolate first. Is that too much to ask?"

Chin's dry, humorless chuckle reassured Danny that his friend was okay, and he heaved a sigh of relief. They'd been separated, and Danny had been strapped down to something that looked an awful lot like the kind of exam table Danny remembered from Rachel's visits to the gynecologist when she'd been pregnant with Grace. He was willing to bet that Chin had suffered the same fate. It was uncomfortable, even with all of his clothes on.

"Your world's portrayals of our kind have done us, and you, a disservice, Daniel Williams and Chin Ho Kelly," the alien said, ending its sentence with a mechanical sounding whir and click, bony fingers digging into Danny's shoulder.

"I believe that you'll find, if you give us a chance, that we're a lot like you," said another alien.

This one's voice was softer, and Danny wondered if the softness was an indication that it was a female. It looked almost identical to the other alien - large, rounded eyes set in a long face with a sharp chin, skin the color of Grace's periwinkle crayon.

They were tall, almost skeletal thin, and had straight, black hair that went down to their shoulders. Their skin almost seemed to glow in the bright light of the interior of the ship, or wherever it was that they'd been taken. They wore simple clothes: cream-colored pants made of natural fiber, and a matching shirt. Their movements were fluid, almost mesmerizing.

Their eyes, upon closer inspection, not out of choice, but because the first alien leaned over Danny and peered into his eyes, were a dark, pupil-less blue like the deepest part of the ocean.

The longer that Danny stared into the alien's eyes, the harder it was for him to look away. The alien smiled, revealing white teeth that were so straight Danny wondered who its dentist was, and if he could hook Grace up with the same dentist for her braces.

"Relax, Detective Williams," the alien said, caressing Danny's cheek with a long, slender finger.

Danny, staring up into the blue eyes, felt himself relaxing as his fear started to recede. There was nothing to fear, nothing to be alarmed about, nothing to get worked up about, nothing, nothing, nothing...

"I and my partner are about to give you and Detective Kelly a precious gift," the alien said, and it breathed a pale purple cloud of smoke into Danny's face.

Danny tried to hold his breath, but the eyes told him not to. Not to worry, not to resist, not to think, but to breathe, and to accept the gift that he was being given. A gift that would save a world and give greater purpose to his life.

Danny's lungs demanded air, and he had no other choice but to inhale the smoke, which seemed to hover over him, only disappearing when he'd started to breathe it in. The alien exhaled another cloud of the purple smoke into Danny's face, and this time he didn't resist. It tasted almost like grape bubblegum, the thought of which made Danny giggle.

There was a third purple cloud, and this one Danny greedily breathed into his lungs. For a moment, maybe a little longer, he was dizzy, but the dizziness disappeared, and then there were only the eyes left for him to look at.

There was a whole universe residing in the eyes - stars, planets, nebulae. It was beautiful and terrifying.

"Close your eyes, Detective," the alien said, voice soft, long fingers undoing the buttons of Danny's shirt, cool palm pressed to Danny's chest, then his stomach.

Danny's eyes closed, but he could still see the universe. And when the alien's fingers started to work his belt loose, Danny felt no fear. He could taste the grape bubblegum on his tongue. The smoke filled his nostrils and his lungs as he continued to breathe it in.

The smoke-cloud made him sleepy, and, though he felt the alien work his pants down past his hips, Danny wasn't worried.

"Sleep," the alien said, its voice surrounding Danny like a comforter.

Danny felt something cold and wet on his stomach, then there was heat that spread out from his belly button to the rest of his body. There was a general sense that he should be concerned, that he shouldn't just lie there while the alien did whatever it was that it was doing to him, but the stars and the planets of the universe were beckoning him to ride the tail of a comet. He caught the tail, drew in a deep breath, lungs filling with grape-flavored smoke, and then he drifted away.

"Danny? Danny, can you hear me?" Steve's voice sounded like it was coming to him from far away, and Danny wondered why he sounded so worried.

"C'mon, Danny, open your eyes," Steve's voice sounded closer this time, though it was no less worried, and Danny started to worry himself.

He could feel someone touching his face. The fingers were calloused and thick, different than the fingers that had last touched him, and Danny wondered where those fingers had gone. Why they were no longer touching him, caressing his face, his stomach...

"Kono, how's Chin?"

The question confused Danny. Chin was with him. They had been together. Together when...Danny can't remember.

"He's not waking up, Steve," Kono's voice was filled with the same worry that Steve's was, and Danny wondered what had happened to Chin, if he was okay, or if the...if the...he can't remember, can't remember.

"We'd better get them to the hospital," Steve said.

Hospital. Danny balked at the idea, though he had no idea why.

"No," Danny managed to speak the word past a tongue that felt like it was stuck to the roof of his mouth, and through lips that felt like rubber.

"Danno?" Steve's voice had a hopeful lilt to it, and Danny struggled to open his eyes.

He didn't want to go the hospital. Couldn't go to the hospital. Didn't want to inhale any more purple smoke-clouds that tasted like grape bubblegum. Didn't want...didn't want...didn't want to be smothered in a cold, wet, sticky substance.

"No," Danny repeated, shaking his head.

Why wouldn't his eyes open? Where had the universe gone? What was happening? Where were the fingers and the warmth that seemed to spread throughout the entirety of his insides, opening him, laying him bare and then filling him?

"Danny? You're okay, babe. I've got you, you're okay. Just open your eyes for me," Steve said, and then Danny felt warm breath on his lips, the heat and light pressure of Steve's lips on his, kissing him awake, kissing him to life.

Danny's eyes opened, and for a moment he was disoriented, expecting to see an ocean blue eye staring back at him, but instead, he saw hazel-green eyes set in a familiar face. A face that, for some reason, Danny felt like he'd missed for an eternity spent in a hell devoid of anything but grape bubblegum and a sickly shade of purple.

"God, Danno, what happened? Are you okay?" Steve was cupping Danny's face, eyes shining with unshed tears as he kissed him.

"I thought I'd lost you." Steve's hands were shaking, and he ran them along Danny's body, checking him for injuries. His eyes were locked on Danny's, as though he was afraid that if he looked away Danny would disappear.

"I'm fine," Danny said, though he wasn't sure if he was okay. "How's Chin?"

"Kono?" Steve called.

"He's awake, Steve," Kono's voice sounded choked, and Danny could tell that she was crying.

"No hospital," Danny said, sensing that Steve was going to bring the idea up again.

Steve frowned at him, a puzzled look on his face. "But -"

"No hospital," Danny said in as firm a voice as he could muster.

Steve gave him a watery smile and nodded, promising, "Okay, Danno, no hospital."

Steve stroked his cheek, and Danny leaned into the touch, trying to rid himself of something dark that he couldn't quite remember.


	2. I Ain't No Incubator

**Disclaimer:** See initial chapter.

**A/N:** I did mention this was AU right, and not completely sane, and that it isn't based on exact science, but than an expert was consulted? Not an expert in aliens, or male pregnancy, though. My poor science friend. She endures a lot of weird questions from me, and patiently tells me how I can tweak things to make them somewhat feasible from a scientific point of view. I also mentioned that I'm experimenting with point-of-view as well, right?

* * *

"But, men can't get pregnant," Steve said, and it wasn't for the first time. At this point it was getting to be beyond redundant.

He'd been repeating the phrase, sometimes beneath his breath, almost always with bewilderment in his voice, for the past hour and a half after Dr. Max Bergman diagnosed what was 'wrong' with Chin and Danny. What their significantly distended bellies purportedly held.

Danny and Chin had finally conceded to undergoing an examination, as long as it wasn't at a hospital. Both Danny and Chin had been adamant about not going to the hospital, and no amount of coaxing from Steve and Kono could convince them otherwise.

"While technically that may be correct," Max cut Steve off in the middle of another whispered exclamation about the impossibility of male pregnancy. "There has been a documented case of a male bearing a child."

"But wasn't he a..."

"He was a transgender male, yes," Max said. "He gave birth, successfully, to three children."

"But..." Steve turned from Max and looked from Danny to Chin, peering closely at both men and narrowing his eyes. Danny felt like he'd been placed under a microscope. It was an uncomfortable, and wholly unpleasant feeling.

"You're not...?" Steve trailed off, his eyes wide as he looked at Danny.

"No, I am not a transgender male, Steven," Danny said, rolling his eyes and throwing up his hands.

"Neither am I," Chin added, quirking an eyebrow as though daring Steve to insinuate otherwise.

"Hmm," Max said. "Very puzzling. From my examination of both males, it would appear that -"

"Danny and Chin, Max," Steve said. "They're not a couple of John Does, Max."

"Yes, of course," Max conceded. "As I was saying, my examination of Danny and Chin revealed that both men are carrying fetuses that are approximately twenty four weeks along in the gestation period." He pointed to images that were on a screen on the wall opposite them.

Steve stood next to Danny, and Danny reached for his hand. He knew, from watching Grace develop in Rachel's body, that fetuses often looked like something from _Star Wars_. But, seeing the almost alien-looking beings that were apparently growing inside of him and Chin triggered a memory that he couldn't quite recall in its entirety, and he gripped Steve's hand tightly.

"They are being housed in what appear to be artificial uteri." Max showed another picture, presumably of one of the artificial uteri.

"Additionally, both men, Danny and Chin," Max said, looking toward Steve, as though afraid of the man's response, "seem to be producing hormones which are necessary for them to carry a child to full term. I believe that these hormones are somehow being distributed via this tube," Max leaned in close to his screen and pointed at the tube in question, "which is located near their thyroid glands."

He seemed fascinated, excited, and Danny felt sick. According to Steve and Kono, he and Chin had only been missing for half a day. Somehow, and he didn't know how, it felt like months had passed rather than a day and a half.

And, according to Kono and Steve this was the second time that they'd gone missing. The first time had been six months prior to this, and, apparently, though Danny and Chin had no recollection of it, they'd both been, _"Hornier than a couple of sailors on shore leave." _Steve's words, not Kono's, though hers had been equally colorful.

The thought of it made Danny blush, and foggy memories pushed at his mind. Memories of purple clouds and spongy skin, of a loss of control that wasn't wholly unwelcome. It was followed by a much better, clearer memory of his first time with Steve.

"It's really rather extraordinary," Max said, jarring Danny from his thoughts. "If you think about it in purely scientific terms."

"Extraordinary isn't exactly how I'd put it," Chin said, voice soft. He was gripping Kono's hand as tight as Danny was gripping Steve's.

"Extraterrestrial," Kono whispered. "Could it be...I mean, I don't know, but, you saw it, too, didn't you Steve? The bright lights and the object hovering in the air?"

"You think that Chin and I got knocked up by a couple of aliens?" Danny laughed, but his gut twisted, and he exchanged a look with Chin.

Kono scowled and crossed her arms over her chest. "It's possible."

"The existence of alien beings has been widely documented," Max said slowly, peering closely at the images, and then at Danny and Chin in turn. "It's not something that can be ruled out."

Danny gripped Steve's hand tighter and turned away from the images. He wanted to get out of Max's office, and go home. He was dizzy, and what Max was showing them just wasn't possible. He wasn't pregnant with some alien's love child, or worse. He wasn't.

"I believe that, whatever the case," Max said, no doubt sensing Danny and Chin's unease. "Danny and Chin's bodies are being used as incubators, of sorts. Perhaps," Max held a hand up to forestall any protests when all of them opened their mouths to speak. "Perhaps an alien species is dying out, and -"

"So, they pick Danny and I off the beach to act as incubators for their offspring?" Chin asked. He pushed himself off of the exam table and walked toward the door. "Why not choose a woman? Surely an alien species would know how procreation works on planet Earth."

"Not necessarily," Max said, shaking his head. "They might've chosen the two of you, because you were convenient. They might have chosen you for another reason altogether. Maybe they thought that you'd be strong vessels, stronger than the female of our species."

Kono grunted and Max held his hands out in a gesture of peace.

"Or," Steve said, looking at Danny in a way that made Danny's face heat up. "Maybe they'd studied you and knew what a loving father you are, Danno. Maybe it wasn't random, maybe they wanted someone they knew would protect the offspring at whatever cost to himself."

"I can't believe that you're on board with the whole alien conspiracy theory, Steven," Danny said, pulling his hand away from Steve.

"If aliens didn't do it," Steve countered. "Then who did? You and Chin were missing for eleven hours and thirty seven minutes. The first time it was only for six hours, fifteen minutes and twenty-six seconds. That's not enough time for a mad scientist to get his hands on you and do all of this." Steve gestured at the images still on the screen and at Danny and Chin who had considerably larger bellies than they'd had when they were taken.

"Fine," Danny said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Let's say that I do buy into this whole idea that an alien race is in danger of dying out so they come to Earth and choose people to incubate with their offspring, what does that mean for Chin and me? Does that mean that, in six month's time, maybe less, an alien is going to pop out of our chests or -"

"Actually, Danny," Max held his finger up, and pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose. "I believe that the genetic makeup of this alien species must be very similar to our own. I do not believe that they would have entrusted the fate of their offspring to a vessel that would be unable to support it."

"You people are insane," Danny said, raising his voice, and looking at each of them in turn. "Chin and I are not alien incubators."

_No matter what our bellies look like right now,_ he thought, ignoring the odd sensation that something was fluttering in his stomach. _Just butterflies, _he reasoned. _And, many, many trips to the gym to work out all of these pesky butterflies. Lots of running, surfing, swimming. Hell, maybe I'll take up some yoga.  
_

Danny jumped off the exam table and pushed past Steve and Max. He and Chin walked out of the door, without exchanging a word. Danny wondered if Chin felt as terrified as he did.


	3. Dream a Little Dream

**Disclaimer:** See initial chapter.

**A/N: **Varying perspectives, jumps in time, unclear dreams that bounce around. Chin uses a 'naughty' word. TBH, grading my students' papers has got me rather down, and more than just a little stressed. Thirteen hour work days, of which I only get paid 7. So, posting happens when I have the energy, and please do not expect perfection, much as I beat myself up over the mistakes that I make, I really don't need anyone else doing that to me. Trust me. I am an expert at the mistakes that I make.

* * *

Dreams had never really bothered Danny much. He'd had some bizarre ones over the years, often after eating spicy food, or, for some reason, Chinese. This recurring dream, though, was really starting to get to him.

It always started out in a white room. Bright lights. He felt blind, and as though he could see everything, both at the same time. It was disconcerting. And there was a nearly insurmountable amount of pain that went along with the dream. Though, at the same time, he felt numb, and as though he was outside of his own body, looking down at it as everything was happening.

Chin was there, but not. Danny could sense the other man, even though he couldn't see him, and that was what made this particular unsettling dream less of a nightmare than he knew it could have been, because there were featureless faces hovering over his, and he was being cut open in the dream. Words were spoken, but he couldn't understand them, could only capture the tone of the voices. There were many voices, many hands, so much pain that it rippled through his body, tore scream after scream from him.

He was naked in the dream, and that made him feel vulnerable. Danny no longer slept nude. No longer actually made it through a full night's sleep, because of the dreams, and of the pain that went along with his 'miraculous pregnancy' as his body stretched to accommodate the artificial womb. At least that was what Max had said.

Danny no longer cared if aliens were involved or not. It didn't matter. What _did_ matter was that he and Chin were both now nearly eight months pregnant, and on bed rest, as well as a very limited diet. Their pregnancies were being kept secret. The Governor knew about what had happened, and a few select others, but it hadn't gotten out to the public, for which Danny was grateful. He didn't even want to think about the circus his and Chin's lives, not to mention Kono and Steve's, would be if their pregnancies became public knowledge.

Always, as his dream progressed, things went from the overly bright, to distinctly dark, and Danny found himself staring into the earnest, soulful eyes of a young child. It was a boy. His eyes were almost impossibly large and round, and were bluer than the ocean when the sun shone through it. He had blonde ringlets, and a dimpled cheek.

The little dream boy smiled at Danny, reached chubby fingers up to Danny's face, touching Danny's cheek, taking away the memory of the pain and the bright, white room. He giggled and said something that Danny could not understand, and at that point in time, Danny always woke with a deep sense of loss, though an odd sense of peace seemed to linger as well.

Returning to sleep after the dream was never an option, so Danny would wander out to the living room to watch TV, or camp out in the kitchen to work on a cold case, or paperwork. Sometimes he read. Others, he called Chin, just needing to hear someone else's voice, and not the negative thoughts rolling around in his head.

* * *

Chin stared up at the ceiling in his bedroom. Unable to sleep, he sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. His stomach twinged, and he grimaced at the flash of pain that tore through him.

"Fuck, that hurts," he whispered into the darkness, clenched his sheets in dual fists, and wondered if Danny was going through the same thing right now. Hoped that he wasn't.

Focusing on his breathing, Chin tried to manage the pain, knowing that it would pass in a few minutes, an hour tops. It was all part and parcel of what had happened to him and Danny, and Chin couldn't help but wonder why whoever had taken them had chosen him and Danny of all people to do this to.

He was mildly relieved to see that at nearly eight months, the fetuses that had been placed inside of him and Danny looked human. He'd been worried, with the alien speculation that was going on, that he and Danny would give birth to something that looked like a cross between a bug and a lizard, or something worse.

Chin thought back to the dream that had woken him in the first place. There was pain, a bright light, Danny's voice, unclear, yet ranting about something, and then, after the pain, there was a child. A little girl whose face was fanned by dark, black hair. She had almond-shaped eyes the color of onyx with just a touch of an almost caramel color flecking her dark eyes. Her smile was contagious, and Chin found himself reaching for the little girl, pulling her into his arms, holding her close before he woke and she was ripped from him with the waking.

This wasn't the first time he'd had the dream. They'd started shortly after he and Danny had returned from wherever it was they had been. The dream always left him with a deep sense of loss, his heart aching for the child that he didn't know.

His hand sought out the phone on his bedside table before it registered in his mind what he was doing. He hit speed dial, and waited, holding his breath, for Danny to answer. He wasn't disappointed as Danny answered before the second ring.

"You can't sleep either?" Danny got his question out before Chin could fully formulate what it was that he'd wanted to say.

"No, I..." Chin faltered, scrubbed a hand over his face, and took a deep breath. "I keep having this dream."

"Me, too," Danny confessed. "There's -"

"Pain, whiteness," Chin intoned.

"A child," Danny added.

"Yeah..." Chin trailed off, unsure of how to put what it is that he was thinking.

"I wonder...I mean, do you think..." Danny took a deep breath, didn't finish his thought, though he didn't need to, because Chin was thinking the same thing, that they were dreaming of their unborn children.

"Maybe it's a side effect of alien pregnancy," Chin offered with a dry chuckle, and then he groaned in pain, and smiled grimly when Danny groaned as well.

"Shit," Danny said. "This sucks."

Chin chuckled, even though there was nothing funny about any of this. Bizarre. Mind-boggling. Completely insane. Yes, to all three, but funny, no. Though, maybe to a select audience this kind of thing _would_ be funny.

"Yeah, it does," Chin agreed when the spasm of pain passed.

"Do you think they'll...whoever did this to us...do you think they'll just leave us alone once we've had the...the babies?" Danny's voice was quiet, and lacked its usual confidence.

"I'm not sure," Chin said honestly. That same question had been plaguing him ever since Max had broached the idea that they were carrying alien fetuses.

"They're not going to take him from me," Danny said, his voice stronger than it had been, and filled with anger and what Chin recognized as desperation.

"We will do whatever it takes to protect these keiki," Chin said, feeling an intense rush of protection toward the unborn child that he was carrying. He would protect her from any threat, alien or otherwise, and he knew, without having to ask, that Danny felt the same way about the child that he was carrying.

* * *

Please let me know if you liked this. Mahalo


	4. Memories

**Disclaimer:** See initial chapter.

**A/N:** Danny and Chin start to remember some of their ordeal. Not much time has passed, and yet it has. This is imperfect.

* * *

Memories have a funny way of creeping up on you. There is no rhyme or reason, no pattern that they follow. Sometimes they come rushing back all at once, others, they come back to you in the form of dreams, and still others, they trickle back in a disjointed fashion. At least that's how it was for Danny and Chin.

"Danny, what is it?" Steve had a look of concern on his face, and was already reaching for Danny whose knees had buckled. Danny waved him off, gripping the edge of the bed that he'd just vacated.

"For the record, bed-rest is not all that it's cracked up to be," Danny said, voice coming out much weaker than he'd intended for it to. He closed his eyes, willing the dizziness to pass, as well as the flash of memory that had overcome him.

_"Your world's portrayals of our kind have done us, and you, a disservice, Daniel Williams and Chin Ho Kelly," the alien said, ending its sentence with a mechanical sounding whir and click, bony fingers digging into Danny's shoulder._

Danny shuddered at the memory, and tried to shake it off. He jerked when Steve placed a hand on his shoulder, and pulled away, his breath coming out in a rush as though he'd been kicked in the stomach.

"I'm fine, Steven," Danny ground the words out, finally wrenching his shoulder from Steve's grasp, and nearly falling on his ass in the process.

"No, you're not, Danny," Steve countered, but he didn't reach for Danny again, stood off to the side, there just in case Danny needed his help.

"Yes, I am," Danny argued, even though Steve was right. "I, just, I need some space, Steve. I'm grateful that you let me stay here, really, I am, but you need to stop hovering."

"Fine, I'll stop hovering, but you need to promise me that you'll ask for help when you need it," Steve said, voice subdued.

He placed a hand on Danny's back, and Danny fought the urge to push it away, knowing that Steve needed to be of help in some way, that he needed the grounding touch as much as Danny needed the semblance of independence. He wondered if Chin was being treated with the same level of mother henning as he was. Kono could be almost as tenacious as Steve, maybe a little more so at times.

"I remembered something," Danny said with a soft sigh, reaching back to lace his fingers with Steve's.

Before all of this, they had started seeing each other. It hadn't been anything big, but it had been the start of something, and ever since his return, Danny went through periods when he didn't want Steve to look at him, let alone touch him. It wasn't easy for either of them, but Danny knew that his reactions confused and hurt Steve. He wished that he could explain it, but there weren't words for what he was feeling, or what his body was going through. He remembered Rachel's pregnancy, and wished he'd been more understanding and sensitive at the time.

Steve's sharp intake of breath and the way that he stiffened made Danny glad that he couldn't see the other man's face right now. He didn't want to see the look of pity that might be there, not that Steve was given to pitying others.

"It wasn't much," Danny added when Steve remained silent and merely squeezed Danny's fingers. "Just something that was said, something about how our movies got it all wrong." Danny's laugh ended on a sob and Steve pulled him into a hug, though his overly large, pregnant stomach, made it awkward. Steve didn't seem to mind, though.

"I'm sorry, Danny." Steve's words ticked Danny's ear. "I'm sorry."

Danny choked on another sob and clung to Steve. "Hormones," he said by way of explanation, hating how quickly his emotions swung from happy to sad to angry.

He couldn't watch Hallmark commercials without becoming a blubbery mess, or hear a sad story without shedding tears. It was ridiculous, and Danny couldn't wait for it all to be over, though there was a part of him that knew he'd miss, in a perverse way, perhaps, being pregnant.

Steve chuckled and wiped at Danny's tears, pressed a kiss to Danny's lips and simply held him. "Max says that -"

"I know, anytime now," Danny said. "Right now, though, I really need to take a piss. Feels like he's sitting right on my bladder. Now I know what Rachel went through, and to think, she did this twice, Steven, I can't even imagine. Just, no way. Once is enough for this man, thank you very much."

Danny's heart did a little flip-flop when the being in his alien-manufactured womb started kicking. Smiling, he took Steve's hand and placed it on his belly. For a few seconds, neither of them said anything, and when Danny looked at Steve's face, there was a look of utter amazement there which nearly moved him to tears.

"Bathroom," Danny said, breaking the emotionally tense moment. Steve swallowed, and, keeping his hand on Danny's belly, he helped Danny walk the short distance to the bathroom.

* * *

Chin wasn't sure what triggered the memory that he got of Danny trying to make light of their abduction. _"Is this the part where you probe me? 'Cause I gotta tell you, I'm not that kinda guy. Flowers, dinner, a good movie, maybe some wine and chocolate first. Is that too much to ask?"_

Chin chuckled at the memory, before he closed his eyes and rubbed at his temples. His head ached, and he knew that he'd be getting another growing pain soon. They seemed to go hand-in-hand.

He remembered Danny screaming at some point, though Chin doesn't remember feeling much of the pain. The aliens had numbed both of them with something, only it hadn't been enough and the aliens had had to administer whatever it was that Danny and Chin had been given at least once more before everything was over. Chin's screams had nearly drowned out those of his friend's though, and Chin grimaced as he recalled the pain. The growing pains were not even a shadow of the excruciating pain that he and Danny had been put through at the hands of their abductors, which, thanks to the memories that had filtered through, Chin could now picture.

"What's wrong, coz?" Kono looked up from the magazine that she'd been paging through, a concerned frown in place.

Chin took a deep breath and forced a smile to his lips. Bedridden, like Danny, Chin now had Kono as a temporary roommate to help him out around the house, and protect him from any potential danger. Though there was no sign that their abductors would return, Steve and Kono were not taking any chances.

Chin was propped up in his bed by pillows that had been over-fluffed numerous times. He reached for Kono's hand, giving it a tight squeeze as he settled back against the pillows and tried to piece his thoughts together.

"Just thinking," Chin deflected, not really wanting to delve into the slowly returning memories. Part of him wished that all of the memories would return, and another part of him hoped that they'd stop returning.

Kono searched his face for the truth of his words, and gave him a tight smile in return. She knew that he was lying, but she was good enough to let him have his lies, and he loved her for it.

"You should get out, go surfing, or something," Chin said, picking at his bedsheets. Truth was, he was going stir crazy, and could only imagine how much this whole enforced bed rest was going over with Danny and how Steve was coping with it. He almost laughed aloud as he tried to picture it.

"I'm okay here," Kono said, sitting on the bed beside him.

"Kono, I'm fine. You don't need to be here twenty-four hours a day," Chin said firmly. "You should get out, do something normal for a change. Go out with Adam, meet up with Steve to go for a swim, or surfing. I'm sure that Steve could use a break from all of this."

"And you and Danny could use a break from an overprotective cousin and SEAL?" Kono guessed, raising an eyebrow and patting Chin's hand.

Chin scrubbed a hand over his face and nodded. "I'm grateful for all that you're doing," Chin stopped, because he was suddenly overwhelmed with emotion and he had to blink back tears. Kono squeezed his hand, encouraging him to continue. "Kono, I'm more grateful than I can even say, but you shouldn't have to sacrifice so much for me. Go, do something fun. Nothing's going to happen to me if you go surfing for a couple of hours."

"This isn't a sacrifice, Chin," Kono said, holding a finger up when Chin opened his mouth to protest. She shook her head, lips thinning to a line of determination. "It isn't. You've done more for me than anyone else in our family, Chin. Please let me be here for you now. You shouldn't have to deal with any of this alone. I don't think of it as a sacrifice, but as a privilege. And," Kono paused, eyes twinkling. "I'll give Steve a call this afternoon, see if he'd like to go surfing with me, just to give you and Danny some alone time. Okay?"

Chin nodded. It wasn't much, but it was something. Some level of normalcy in a world that had grown chaotic. Five-0 was currently on a temporary leave, and HPD was feeling the loss of the elect team greatly, but the reason for the temporary leave was kept vague.

The more people who knew about the confirmed existence of aliens, the more chaotic the world would get - at least that's what the Governor, who was keeping everything under wraps, believed. Chin had to concede the point, and was happy that the Governor hadn't told other government agencies. Part of him knew that it was a political move, and that the Governor could, and possibly would, at a future time, use this to further his career, but right now he couldn't worry about it.

He felt the baby kick, and smiled as he guided Kono's hand to his belly.

"She's gonna be a soccer player," Kono said, pride evident in her voice.

"I'm surprised that you don't already have her signed up for surfing lessons," Chin teased.

Kono gave him a perturbed look and slapped his hand. "Please, coz, you know as soon as she learns to walk, I'll have her up on the surfboard. Shootz, I'm not letting some second rate surfing instructor teach my niece how to surf. As if," Kono scoffed, already making plans for the future of her cousin who would grow up calling her Auntie, rather than Cousin Kono.

Laughing, Chin raised his hands in surrender. "Soccer player, surfer, piano player, it doesn't matter, as long as -"

"She's born healthy, and strong," Kono finished Chin's oft repeated sentence, and rolled her eyes.

Smiling, Chin motioned for Kono to call Steve. He knew that both caretakers, though they seemed happy to help, could use a break from their duties, even if it was only for a couple of hours.

If Max was correct in his assumptions, the babies really could be born any day now, and tensions were running high, but Chin knew that it would be good for Steve and Kono to take a break. He doubted that they would get much of a break in the days to come.

Max, and a few select others, who could be trusted, were on call for the deliveries. Something in Chin knew that both he and Danny would deliver at the same time. Max had explained the process to them. There would be no natural childbirth in their cases. The aliens hadn't altered their bodies enough to make that possible. Max, and the other medical personnel there, would deliver the babies via C-section, and, barring any complications, the artificial wombs would be removed at the same time.

Chin felt a ripple of pain in his stomach, but smiled when Kono turned to look at him. She was on the phone with Steve, and Chin didn't want her cancel any plans that they were in the process of making out of worry for him.


	5. Expanding the Gene Pool

**Disclaimer:** See initial chapter.

**A/N:** Crazier yet, and the end of the ride. Thanks for those who have accompanied me on this crazy trip. I know it wasn't perfect.

* * *

Danny moaned, and before he knew it, Steve was beside him, offering him a glass of water and fluffing one of the pillows behind his back. "You alright, Danny?"

"Guess I shouldn't have eaten that spicy ahi roll," Danny joked. He tried for a smile, but ended up grimacing. Steve's hovering was bordering on smothering, and Danny was ready for this whole nightmare to be over, but terrified at the same time.

"I don't like this." Steve's brows were scrunched together, giving him the appearance of having a caterpillar perched on his forehead. If he could have, Danny would've laughed, but he felt like he had the worst case of heartburn, and didn't have to strength, or breath to laugh.

Danny tried to wave off Steve's concern, but a searing pain ripped through his belly, robbing him of speech and thought.

"Sonofabitch," Danny breathed out the curse when the pain had finally subsided. He didn't remember _this_ part of Grace's delivery. He'd been too doped up on happiness, though now that he thinks back on it, he can remember some creative verbiage coming from Rachel at the time.

"Danny, what's wrong? Do I need to call Max? Is it time?" Steve paced in front of Danny, one hand gripping his hair, eyes wide with excitement mixed with fear.

"Yeah, babe, I think it might be time," Danny said. He patted the bed beside him, he wasn't looking forward to the next painful contraction, but needed to calm Steve down. It was endearing, seeing Steve like this, and Danny felt his heart swell with love as he watched Steve. He swallowed the lump in his throat as the realization that he didn't just 'love' Steve, but he was in love with Steve.

"You know, for an Army man, you're looking awfully..." unbearable pain ripped away the rest of Danny's words, and Steve's typical rebuttal as Danny was doubled over.

"Fuck, Danny, I'm calling Max now," Steve said, but Danny barely registered the words.

Danny didn't remember Rachel being in this much pain when she'd had Grace. He felt like he was being ripped apart, maybe the half-alien child would pull him apart after all, and emerge from his chest like in the movies - _"Your world's portrayals of our kind have done us, and you, a disservice"_ \- no matter what Max had said about it bearing a striking resemblance to the human fetus, with the marked exception that the fetuses seemed to be gestating at a more advanced rate. Danny and Chin had only been carrying their burdens for six months now, and when they'd been initially examined, Max had explained, a little too excitedly for Danny's taste, that the fetuses appeared to be well into the second trimester - twenty-four weeks, or six months.

_There is nothing normal about any of this,_ Danny thought before blinding pain stole even the ability to think from him, and he was suddenly, as though he was guest star in an episode of, "Star Trek," somehow transported to a white room.

"The time has come, Daniel Williams," the alien voice was followed by a series of oddly familiar clicks and whirs, and a face that Danny recognized from his earlier abduction hovered in front of him. He clutched at his distended belly, feeling the child - _his _child - move inside of him.

Danny shook his head and tried to move away from the periwinkle being. "You can't have him," he said. He tried to get off of the exam table, but was prevented from moving by a thin hand gripping his shoulder.

"Relax, Daniel Williams," a soft, kindly voice said, and large eyes, blue as the ocean on a clear summer's day, peered into his own. He felt himself relaxing, whether it was due to the eyes, or to the tone of voice that the alien was using, Danny wasn't sure, but at the moment, he found it impossible to care, to do anything other than lie down on the table and relax as he'd been commanded.

"Chin?" Danny's voice sounded thick and muffled to his own ears. He tried to move his head, seeking out his friend, but was unable to move.

"Soon," the alien said, and it smiled at Danny, making him feel even more relaxed. "Your friend will join us soon."

Tears filled Danny's eyes. "Steve, where's Steve?" He didn't want to do this alone, and he didn't consider the three aliens who were in the room to be company.

"I am sorry, Daniel Williams, our directives are very clear, we can only bring the hosts, not their mates, or familial companions, to the facility," the alien apologized, and it _did _seem sorry, though that was little consolation to Danny.

"Please don't take my baby," Danny begged. He no longer felt any pain, and only a glance at his still distended belly, and the rolling movement beneath the skin reassured him that he was still pregnant, that the child he'd carried for the past nine months hadn't yet been ripped from him.

The alien smiled at him, its long, slender finger gently traced his face, making him shiver. "Daniel Williams, the child that you carry within you, and the child that Chin Ho Kelly carries within him, are our mutual hope and mainstay. They are the future of not only our people, but also your own. This is not the first time we've visited your planet, but it is perhaps the last time we will be able to do so. The children that you and Chin Ho Kelly are carrying are the keys necessary to expand both gene pools. Think of this as a gift."

Danny blinked at the alien in front of him, trying to make sense of what he was being told, even as his vision started to dim, and his stomach started to twinge with pain as he was wracked with another labor pain. He momentarily forgot how to breathe, but heard words that Steve had been coached to say, being whispered from an alien mouth, cool breath against his ear, and somehow managed to breathe through the pain.

He felt something cool on his forehead, and tried to smile in spite of the pain. A hand that was not Steve's gripped his as the pain ebbed and he was able to think a little more clearly.

"Relax, Daniel Williams, we will not take the child away from you, we only ask that you raise him, alongside your life mate, as you have raised your daughter, Grace, with a sense of right, with love, and with honesty," the alien said in a voice that lulled Danny into an almost sleep.

He was aware of when Chin arrived, reached out to grip his friend's hand, and squeeze. Comaraderie in the midst of mild terror which was being dulled by whatever it was that the aliens were doing to keep them calm.

"Why us?" Chin's voice floated over to Danny as though through some kind of thick fog. "Why choose the male of our species to expand the gene pool?"

Chin's question was met with a soft, melodic chuckle and the image of a seahorse was somehow projected on the ceiling.

"This is how our kind maintain gender equality. The female of the species carry the offspring for half of the gestation period, and the males for the remainder of it. It is similar to the process of what your species call seahorses."

"But, humans aren't built the same," Danny said through lips that felt like rubber.

"Yes," the alien said, but offered them no further explanations. "Now it is time for you to sleep. We will not meet again, Daniel Williams and Chin Ho Kelly. Take care of our children, they are our hope and future. They are what will remain of our people when nothing else does."

Danny wanted to ask more questions, but his eyelids were heavy and he felt like he was encased in a thick bubble of smoke that filled his lungs and robbed him of all of his senses. It didn't choke him, but it numbed everything, including the pain. It smelled like grape bubblegum, and his mind grasped at a memory that eluded him.

Chin's hand slipped from his grip, but the alien's hand remained firm in his, and he felt the coolness of touch on his sweaty forehead. He blinked once, twice, and then his eyes remained closed and he floated.

Memories of a future that he'd not yet seen - walking Grace down the aisle at her wedding; sharing a beer with Steve; kissing on the beach; holding hands; playing catch with his son; watching with mild trepidation as Steve taught their son (it was a given in Danny's mind that he and Steve would raise him together) how to dive; playdates with Chin and a dark-haired little girl whose laughter brought a feeling of warmth and happiness - and of the past commingled in his mind until they were intertwined and Danny could not divorce one from the other.

* * *

Chin tried not to be afraid, but as pain tore through him once again, he stopped trying to be brave for Kono and called out to her, letting her know that he was in labor, that she should call Max and Steve. Worry etched on her face, she held his hand and called Max.

When she called Steve, though she tried to hide it, Chin knew that something had gone wrong and he ignored his own pain in an effort to listen in on the phone conversation that was agitating his cousin. His eyes widened, and sweat beaded his brow when he heard Steve's frantic words even though Kono had turned away from him.

"Danny disappeared into thin air, Kono, he was here one minute, and gone the next," Steve's voice sounded hysterical, and Chin was finding it hard to digest his friend's words.

"God, Kono, what if...what if he never comes back this time? Or, what if they take the baby away from him. Kono, I think that would kill him."

"Calm down, Steve," Kono said, her voice sharp, yet gentle. "You're not going to be any help to Danny when he returns if you get yourself all worked up about this. Where's the kickass Super SEAL we all know and love? C'mon, boss, we can't give up on Danny, not yet."

Chin felt an odd sensation, even as a great wave of pain shocked his body, and he reached out to Kono, but she slipped from his grasp and the room seemed to fade away in front of him, only to be replaced by white walls. He sensed Danny before he saw him, knew that he was back with the aliens, and a new dread filled his heart.

He didn't want to lose his little girl before he'd even met her. "You can't have her," he said, voice filled with venom. He would fight all of them if he had to. He wasn't going to let them lay a hand on his daughter, or Danny's son.

"Relax, Chin Ho Kelly," a disembodied voice said, and, in spite of himself, Chin felt himself relaxing, the sense of imminent danger to his child fading. "We did not bring you here to take your child away, but to help you. She is yours, even more than she is ours. She is our future, but she is also yours. From her, whole civilizations will be built, and both your kind and ours will be saved."

Awed, Chin blinked at the three aliens that were in the room with him, turned his head and saw that Danny was there too. He reached over, took Danny's hand, and they gave each other unspoken support. They would endure whatever happened together.

Chin didn't know if he believed what the aliens were saying, or the answers they gave for his questions, but as he breathed in a thick, purple vapor, everything - his fears and worries, the improbability of all of this, as well as the intense labor pains - faded into the background until it was nothing more than a distant memory.

He had visions of a future filled with laughter and joy that superseded anything that he could imagine. A little girl with dark hair plaited into braids, learning to surf almost before she could walk, Kono holding her hand, facing away from him and toward the ocean. She was as comfortable in the ocean as she was on the land, and Chin knew no greater love than that which he felt for his daughter, and the, as of yet faceless woman who stood beside him, strong hand gripping his own as they watched his daughter play with Danny's son, building a sandcastle together. Building kingdoms together. A life together.

It was overwhelming and yet it was comforting, and Chin thought he could hear the ocean's roar in his ears, and feel the sun beating down on him, the sand, gritty and wet, between his toes. The visions were so real, and yet some part of him knew that he was dreaming, that none of this had happened yet, that, in all reality none of it might ever happen.

That thought made him unaccountably sad, and he felt tears coursing down his cheeks. The sadness was suddenly swept away, as though it was nothing more than flotsam, and something warm and solid and _real _took its place.

"Come on, Chin, open your eyes," a voice called to him. Kono's voice.

It was followed by another voice, a little shriller, more insistent than that of his cousin's. A voice without words. It was that small voice which finally pulled Chin out of the comfortable darkness that he'd been floating in, and when he opened his eyes, he was met with the most beautiful sight in the world - his little girl staring up at him with eyes the color of the ocean.

A quick look at his surroundings revealed that he was no longer with the aliens, but in the room that Max had reserved for him and Danny's delivery and recovery. Danny was lying in the other hospital bed, Steve bent over him, cooing at the squirming bundle that Danny held. Both men had goofy grins on their faces, and when Danny's eyes met his, they were sparkling with joy.

"She's beautiful," Kono said, drawing Chin's attention back to his cousin, and his daughter.

He was still filled with a sense of awe and utter disbelief that any of this had happened at all. The past six months were a blur to him, and he wondered if he'd wake up with the biggest hangover he'd ever had, puking his guts out and laughing with Danny about the crazy dream that he'd had. One look at the little girl in his arms, though, and that notion disappeared completely. This, as crazy as it was, was real. He was a father to the most wonderful little girl - excepting Kono and Grace, of course - in the whole world.

"What're you gonna call her?" Kono asked, as she gently brushed a curl off of the little girl's forehead.

"Malia Hokulani Iekika Kaipo Kaimana Kelly," Chin said, the name coming to him as if it had already been decided upon well before she'd been conceived, and maybe it had. Maybe he and Danny had been chosen for this special blessing before they'd even been born. Maybe it was written in the stars, as his daughter's name suggested.

Kono smiled, her eyes welling with tears. "It's a beautiful name, Chin," she whispered. "It's perfect."

"Yes, it is," Steve said. The smile on Steve's face was contagious. He walked over to Chin, holding Danny's little boy, bouncing him a little in his arms. He looked natural, holding the little boy, unlike he'd been when Mary had plopped her child in his arms a few years ago. Gone was the trepidation, and the awkwardness, and Chin wondered if the aliens had factored Steve into all of this as well. The man had a protective streak as long as the island chains, which would come in handy if anyone who shouldn't know found out about what had happened, and just what these children were.

"What're you going to call your little one, Danny?" Chin asked.

It was Steve who answered, though. His eyes locked on the small bundle in his arms as he spoke in a soft voice that held no trace of its usual gruffness, "Matthew John Williams."

"After my brother and Steve's father," Danny added, voice soft and subdued.

"And, if Danny will have me, even after all of my _incessant smothering_, I'd like to add the name, McGarrett, to that." Steve gave Danny a hopeful look, and it made Chin think of a puppy that he'd once freed from tangled barbed-wire. The puppy's eyes had been filled with hope and fear and a profound willingness to accept that it might not be saved.

Chin found himself holding his breath when Steve approached the bed, and reached for Danny's hand. "I don't have a ring or anything," he said, stumbling over his words, "and I know that we butt heads more often than not, that I'm a goof and a jerk and an all-around Neanderthal, but Danny, I love you, and I'd love nothing more than to -"

"Get over here, you big goof, and kiss me already," Danny said, pulling Steve down, and planting a kiss on the blubbering man's mouth before he could make even more of a fool of himself.

"Of course he'll marry you, boss," Kono said, answering for Danny who was now holding Matthew, a lopsided smile fixed in place. Steve was sitting on the bed beside him, fingers entwined with Danny's.

"Hey, what am I, chopped liver? I may have just had a miracle baby on some kind of alien spaceship - would you look at that head of blonde curls, is he beautiful or what? - but I am quite capable of accepting my own proposal, Kono," Danny said.

"Then accept it already, Danny," Kono said, laughter dancing in her eyes.

Danny rolled his eyes, and then looked at Steve. His eyes seemed to grow misty, but Chin didn't call him on it, and neither did Kono. "Yes, you big goof, I'll marry you. It's about time that you made an honest man out of me anyway, sailor."

Chin felt a sting of jealousy, but his daughter made a soft, chuffing sound, and he was reminded of the vision that he'd had. He knew that, whatever the future held for him and Hokulani, that he would not be facing it alone, even if that faceless woman who'd stood beside him, hand gripping his with an invisible strength, never came along. He would be facing the future with Kono, Danny, and Steve - his 'Ohana - by his side. Neither he, nor Danny would be alone in any of this.

* * *

**A/N 2:** Silly author's note, but Chin's baby's names meanings (many Hawaiian children have a given Hawaiian name, as well as a name that they use in public; most Hawaiian names are very long, at least most of my students' names are, thankfully they let me give them nicknames, or they shorten them on their own)

Hokulani = Divine Star

Iekika = one who can foresee

Kaipo = darling

Kaimana = power of the sea

I thought that Danny would honor his brother, and Steve's father, by naming his child after them. He does serve a grand purpose in the universe as well, but I don't think that Danny would name him any Hawaiian names, though maybe Chin or Kono will give little Mattie a Hawaiian name.


End file.
